HB 0929

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act for the relief of Cindy Haider, wife of Jeffrey
3	Haider, deceased, Alan Haider, adult dependent child of
4	Jeffrey Haider, deceased, Max Haider, adult child of
5	Jeffrey Haider, deceased, Jonathan Haider, adult child of
6	Jeffrey Haider, deceased, and Jessica Haider, adult child
7	of Jeffrey Haider, deceased, by the South Broward Hospital
8	District; providing for an appropriation to compensate
9	them for injuries and damages sustained as a result of the
10	negligence of the South Broward Hospital District;
11	providing for the establishment of trusts and requirements
12	with respect thereto; providing for attorney's fees and
13	costs; providing an effective date.
14
15	WHEREAS, in May 2000, Jeffrey Haider, a 45-year-old man,
16	began experiencing headaches, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, and
17	behavioral changes such as difficulty concentrating and
18	confusion, and
19	WHEREAS, as a result of these symptoms, Jeffrey Haider saw
20	several health care providers over a period of several weeks,
21	and
22	WHEREAS, an MRI of Jeffrey Haider was taken on May 31,
23	2000, and
24	WHEREAS, a radiologist and a neurologist determined that
25	Jeffrey Haider had a large mass within the right temporal lobe
26	which was 7 x 5 centimeters in size, and
27	WHEREAS, the mass was diagnosed as a brain tumor and
28	Jeffrey Haider was referred to a neurosurgeon, and
29	WHEREAS, the neurosurgeon who examined Jeffrey Haider
30	agreed that the patient had a right temporal lobe tumor and
31	recommended a craniotomy for resection of the tumor, and
32	WHEREAS, the procedure was performed on June 5, 2000, and
33	once the incisions in the area of the middle cerebral artery
34	were made, massive bleeding occurred, with blood gushing out of
35	Jeffrey Haider's incisions under pulsating pressure, and
36	WHEREAS, at this point the neurosurgeon realized that the
37	diagnosis of a tumor was incorrect and that Jeffrey Haider had
38	an aneurysm, and
39	WHEREAS, in fact, the neurosurgeon notes in his operative
40	report that "at this point, we felt that this probably was an
41	aneurysm. I brought in the radiologist who felt that, in
42	retrospect, this was a possibility," and
43	WHEREAS, an aneurysm is a permanent, abnormally blood-
44	filled dilation of a blood vessel, usually resulting from the
45	disease of a vessel wall, and it is common medical knowledge
46	that puncturing an aneurysm is the incorrect treatment for a
47	cerebral aneurysm, and
48	WHEREAS, the surgeon and the radiologist then summoned an
49	interventional radiologist who performed an angiogram, a
50	procedure that should have been ordered prior to the operation,
51	and
52	WHEREAS, the intraoperative angiogram revealed a giant
53	aneurysm filling from the right middle cerebral artery, and
54	WHEREAS, in an instance of further negligence on the part
55	of the South Broward Hospital District, the neurosurgeon did not
56	repair Jeffrey Haider's middle cerebral artery, but instead
57	controlled the bleeding from the aneurysm for about 45 minutes
58	and then closed the dura and the skull, and then sent Jeffrey
59	Haider to the intensive care unit "with the idea of reoperating
60	at a later time," and
61	WHEREAS, however, within hours, Jeffrey Haider was
62	exhibiting dangerous neurological symptoms and was in need of
63	immediate repair of the aneurysm, and
64	WHEREAS, on June 6, 2000, the repair surgery was commenced,
65	and
66	WHEREAS, when Jeffrey Haider's skull was reopened the brain
67	was noted to be "extremely swollen" and the "aneurysm was
68	causing tremendous pressure on the brain and herniating through
69	the craniotomy," and
70	WHEREAS, at that point the neurosurgeon compounded Jeffrey
71	Haider's condition by tearing off the M1 artery from the
72	junction of the aneurysm and the M2 artery so that he was unable
73	to perform an anastomosis to repair and join the arteries, and
74	WHEREAS, Dr. Rodriquez, the neurosurgeon, states in his
75	operative report that "the larger M2 (artery), and even the
76	other one, were essentially on the aneurysm bulbous dilation and
77	I could not bring them together to do an anastomosis," and
78	WHEREAS, Jeffrey Haider and his family suffered
79	astronomical economic and noneconomic damages as a result of the
80	treatment he received from the South Broward Hospital District,
81	and
82	WHEREAS, Jeffrey Haider was in a chronic vegetative state
83	and required 7-day-a-week, around-the-clock care until his death
84	on January 1, 2004, NOW, THEREFORE,
85
86	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
87
88	Section 1.  The facts stated in the preamble to this act
89	are found and declared to be true.
90	Section 2.  The South Broward Hospital District is
91	authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of the
92	district not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in
93	favor of Cindy Haider, wife of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; Alan
94	Haider, adult dependent child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; Max
95	Haider, adult child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; Jonathan
96	Haider, adult child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased; and Jessica
97	Haider, adult child of Jeffrey Haider, deceased, in the sum of
98	$3,800,000 plus liquidated interest of $46,437 for a total of
99	$3,846,437, as agreed to by the claimants and the district, as
100	compensation for injuries and damages sustained as a result of
101	the negligence of employees of the South Broward Hospital
102	District. Some or all of the settlement may be paid in the form
103	of periodic payments through the use of a structured settlement
104	annuity. After payment of costs and attorney's fees as limited
105	by section 768.28(8), Florida Statutes, payments shall be
106	distributed as follows:
107	(1)  Sixty percent to be paid to Cindy Haider.
108	(2)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
109	established for Alan Haider pursuant to section 3.
110	(3)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
111	established for Max Haider pursuant to section 3.
112	(4)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
113	established for Jonathan Haider pursuant to section 3.
114	(5)  Ten percent to be paid to the trust account
115	established for Jessica Haider pursuant to section 3.
116	Section 3.  Alan Haider, Max Haider, Jonathan Haider,
117	Jessica Haider, and their respective attorneys shall be
118	required, as a condition of payment under section 2, to nominate
119	either a financial institution doing business in Florida or an
120	independent individual who is not related to the claimants by
121	either blood, marriage, or contract and who possesses financial
122	and trust management experience to act as a trustee for an
123	irrevocable inter vivos trust established for the benefit of
124	each respective claimant. The proceeds to be paid to Alan
125	Haider, Max Haider, Jonathan Haider, and Jessica Haider pursuant
126	to section 2 shall be placed in separate irrevocable inter vivos
127	trusts, to be used solely for the health care, support,
128	maintenance, and education of each respective claimant until the
129	claimant is 30 years of age. The trustee must take into
130	consideration any other resources and income of the beneficiary
131	of a trust before disbursing any funds from the trust to the
132	beneficiary.
133	Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.